Nostalgia Matching: The Dating Trend of Reconnecting with Past Matches
Sending a message to an ex or a past match is not new. Many have done it after a breakup. While it was once seen as a poor decision, people now believe it may come from a sense of nostalgia rather than just a late-night impulse.
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According to a recent survey by dating app QuackQuack, 2 in 7 users said they had reconnected with an old match. They said the comfort of a familiar connection makes it easier to restart the conversation. The trend is now being called "Nostalgia Matching."
The survey, done in April 2025, included 8,546 users aged 18 to 30. Participants were from different cities and towns across India and worked in various fields such as IT, healthcare, education, and finance.
The gender split was even to understand both sides of the trend.
Ravi Mittal, Founder and CEO of the dating app, said that people are looking for comfort in known connections. "People generally crave familiarity, and connecting with an ex-match gives them that sense of comfort and safety, even if things didn't turn out perfectly the first time. We are seeing that dating is no longer linear- it's becoming a full circle. Many are reconsidering old matches, not as a rebound but to explore the possibilities of reconnecting with someone with whom they had almost something special
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Some users feel they left things incomplete and want to see where the connection could go. A 26-year-old from Haryana shared that reconnecting brought back old feelings. Many women aged 25 to 30 said they preferred old matches because they could skip the small talk.
The survey also found that younger users, especially GenZ, are more open to giving past matches another chance. For many, it's not about starting fresh, but finishing what they started.
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